


caged up

by bisexualhotchner



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Coffee Shops, Dogs, Falling In Love, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Aida Riko/Kiyoshi Teppei, Slow Burn, as slow as i can, fear of dogs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:41:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24910246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualhotchner/pseuds/bisexualhotchner
Summary: Kagami's been dating Kiyoshi since he was a senior in high school. And it's good- it's not perfect, but nothing ever really seems that way for Kagami anyway.Until they visit a dog shelter and he gets to meet the guy who runs the place: cheeky, tanned, totally obnoxious and entirely gorgeous Aomine Daiki.
Relationships: Aida Riko/Hyuuga Junpei, Aomine Daiki/Kagami Taiga, Kagami Taiga/Kiyoshi Teppei
Comments: 16
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I owe you all an apology who checked this out in the KiyoKaga tags, hoping for a legit content for them - I hate it when authors do this sort of thing to a ship, but I'm just using it to support another. I hope I didn't let down anyone!! This is an AoKaga story first and foremost.

Kiyoshi and him were good together. They have been dating on and off since Kiyoshi graduated – what had started off as just hanging out and Kiyoshi lending his third grade notes to him, visiting him at practice and helping him strengthen his grip outside of it turned into something more when Kiyoshi confessed to him.

Which, yes, kind of surprised Kagami, initially. It’s not that he didn’t pick up on the way Kiyoshi looked at him when he took his shirt off, or that he didn’t spend most of their time together staring at his shoulders in return. Kagami was simply accustomed a different kind of dating, or so to speak. In America, it was more fuck and go, friends with benefits, that sort of thing. None of that desperate plea of _‘Please go out with me’_ , complete with puppy eyes and a nervous tremble of his lips that Kiyoshi ended up giving him.

Of course, they also fucked that night. Kagami decided that it’s better to show than tell with his response, kissing Kiyoshi’s anxious mouth and then biting it when he failed to let loose, growling and tearing at his clothes until Kiyoshi finally put those enormous hands on him, grabbing and stroking and searching for naked skin to press against, and it was so heavenly that Kagami felt like he needed to convert to whatever religion’s god gifted him with a man like this.

They’ve been fucking ever since. As far as Kagami recalled, they never really settled on calling each other anything, but Kiyoshi had been eagerly introducing him to everyone as his boyfriend. Sometimes, this shamelessness resulted in Kagami barking at him, or a full-blown fight that used to end in weeks of radio silence between them, interrupted only when Kagami needed another set of notes for a subject, or when Kiyoshi wanted to play basketball with him, knowing that he would never go easy on him, as all his other team members tended to do.

The fighting and the silence was kind of settled when Kiyoshi moved in. It’s been a mutual decision, but the idea behind it was that Kagami’s apartment was roughly in the middle of his commute from his grandparents’ house to work, so it was easier to live there and visit both with only half the distance. And Kagami, he just kind of didn’t mind – his place was a bit more lively with Kiyoshi, more homely as his toothbrush, razor and eventually, preferred toothpaste showed up on the edge of his bathroom sink. He probably even liked that his queen-size bed was just a little more filled out with Kiyoshi nestled behind him, long arms wrapped around his middle.

So yes – they were close, and they have been in a sort-of relationship for over a year, but even for Kagami, _this_ was just a little off-limits.

Kiyoshi let him blast his music from the car’s outdated speakers. Originally, the sounds of American hip-hop, albeit a bit crackling sometimes, had eased his nerves but nearing the end of the four-hour long drive to Nagoya, Kagami’s knees have started jumping again. It wouldn’t have been a problem, but Kiyoshi was resting their interlinked fingers on them to have better access to the gearstick while holding his hand. He flashed him a reassuring look which Kagami pretended not to see.

‘It’s going to be okay.’ he told him, sounding so mighty sure of himself that some part of Kagami wanted to shove his head through the steering wheel. ‘We’re just looking right now. We don’t need to take any of them home.’

‘Then why did we take your car?’ Kagami barked, his leg aiming high enough that it bumped into the glove compartment. Fucking hell, that hurt.

Kiyoshi sighed quietly, forcing a smile on himself. ‘Because I like taking road trips with you.’

Kagami studied him for a moment, pulling his hand away from under his grasp. ‘No, you don’t.’

‘Why are you being cruel?’

‘I’m just being real. You don’t like it, you’re just putting up with me because you think you owe me for agreeing to this.’ he leaned back on his seat, staring at Kiyoshi’s blank face pointedly. ‘Which, you don’t, by the way.’

‘And we could’ve taken the train if you really didn’t want to take any of them home yet. It would’ve taken just half the time and money, given how much fuel this shit on wheels drains.’

‘Okay,’ Kiyoshi said, slowly. ‘you’re upset.’

‘Miss me with that shit. I’m not a fucking child, Teppei! Stop treating me like one whenever I’m right, just because you can’t handle being called out.’

He didn’t realize when he raised his voice, but he did notice when he started shouting over his music. He reached for his phone, turning it down all the way as thought it could somehow make it better that he just yelled at his boyfriend – his amazing, gentle, caring, _perfect_ boyfriend. Why was he fucking things up so bad?

Kagami looked up at Kiyoshi, breathing hard. He still had that stern, unreadable look on his face, like he was wearing a mask, and it was maddening because Kagami didn’t know if he was going to explode right back at him, or if he’d finally managed to hurt him badly enough to stick. He didn’t know which thought was more terrifying.

The air he’s been holding back left his body in a loud huff as Kiyoshi placed his hand on his thigh, warm, heavy and comforting. His thumb rubbed slow circles on the outer seam of his jeans, soothing him.

‘Listen to me, Taiga.’ Kiyoshi looked at him with sincerity in his eyes, before turning them back on the road. ‘I like dogs, but I love you much more than them. I took the car because I naively believe that you’ll fall in love with one of them and we’ll be able to take them straight home, but if this doesn’t go as I planned, we can always back out. I never want to force you into anything, got it?’ he retrieved his hand so he could shift gears, then leaning his arm on the back of Kagami’s seat so he could look to the back to park. ‘I know you promised you’d try, but whenever you feel like it’s too much, just tell me and we’re going home right away.’

‘Can you promise to say when you’re at your limit?’ turning the engine off, Kiyoshi looked at him in the eye, searching for some kind of answer Kagami hadn’t feel like he had yet. ‘Could you do that for me?’

Nevertheless, he nodded, cupping Kiyoshi’s face in his palms and leaning in for a gentle kiss.

‘I can do that.’ Kagami breathed onto his mouth, his clutch desperate on his jaw. Kiyoshi smiled softly into their next kiss, playfully licking between Kagami’s lips and taking his wrists in his gigantic hands.

‘We should get out soon.’ Kiyoshi mumbled when Kagami started nibbling on his lower lip. ‘He’s staring at us…’

Kagami whipped his head up and away, his face burning up. ‘Wh-who’s staring?!’

The answer was right in front of them through the windshield. Across the small parking lot full of rubble, mud and grass, stood a guy around as tall as Kiyoshi, and, Kagami wondered where the hell did that thought come from but, equally as handsome. He had far darker skin than the average Japanese, which, coupled with his strong jaw, thick lips and straight nose, made Kagami think that he probably had some kind of foreign ancestry. His brows were furrowed in curiosity as he leaned back on the wooden framed wire gates, still training his dark eyes on the two of them in the car, leather jacket on yet open in the early summer heat.

‘Hey there, lovebirds.’ he called out to them as Kagami practically fell out of the car. ‘I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?’

Even his voice was attractive – deep and smooth, like velvet. Kagami swallowed, trying to tell himself that he’s only thinking these things because he got all worked up over making out with Kiyoshi.

‘You didn’t. I’m very sorry.’ Kiyoshi said with an easy smile, looking just a little less flustered than Kagami himself as he walked up to him and held out a hand. ‘Aomine-san I assume? We talked on the phone.’

‘If you don’t mind, I’d rather you drop the “-san”. You’re older than me.’ The man named Aomine frowned, and when he shook Kiyoshi’s hand, it somehow didn’t disappear in his enormous palm. Kagami felt warm. It must’ve been the weather. ‘He’s your girlfriend?’

‘Who are you calling a girl?’ Kagami grunted, the heat of embarrassment turning into bubbling anger in a matter of minutes. He really, really didn’t like to be degraded for his orientation.

‘Calm yourself, I don’t judge.’ Aomine shrugged, the small curve of a teasing smile playing on his lips. ‘First dog?’

‘I’ve had one when I was a kid.’ Kiyoshi answered easily. Kagami scoffed.

‘I haven’t.’

‘I see.’ Aomine murmured, narrowing his eyes. ‘Are you one of those couples who are training themselves to raise a kid by adopting a dog?’

Kagami almost choked on his own saliva. ‘Kid?!’

‘No, that’s not it.’ Kiyoshi explained hurriedly. ‘He’s just a little afraid of dogs, but I like them so much that he decided to get one, and maybe get used to them.’

Aomine’s sharp eyes flicked to Kagami, and he felt as if his gaze burned him. He had the look of someone who could figure you out without even getting to talk to you. ‘A pitbull’s not the usual first choice for someone who’s scared of dogs. Usually, they have an even worse reputation than other breeds.’

Kagami felt the need to argue, even as he kind of agreed with the guy. It was Kiyoshi’s choice after all. ‘A dog’s a dog, right?’

‘Oi Kiyoshi, please promise me never to leave your guy unattended with the dog.’

‘Fuck off, why?!’

Aomine laughed, the sound so sudden and genuine that it somehow managed to wipe all of Kagami’s remaining anger. He shoved his hand in his jean pocket, pulling out a fluffy pink keychain with several keys attached to it. He grabbed the biggest one, unlocking the main gate with it. ‘Congrats, you guys passed the test. Which means I like you, which means you can go look for some dogs now. I gotta warn you though, since most of them are rescues, I can’t guarantee that they’re all purebreds.’

‘Do you also breed them?’ Kagami asked, out of good old-fashioned curiosity. And also, talking eased his returning anxiety just a little bit. He felt the cold grip of fear close around his stomach even as Kiyoshi strolled to his side to hold his hand as soon as they stepped through the gates.

‘Nah. I don’t believe in breeding, but I’m not breaking them up if they’re going at it, either.’ Aomine offered a coy grin. ‘Let them fuck if they want to, you know? They should have the same freedom as we do.’

Kagami’s eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out if this guy was jabbing at their relationship, or if his jokes were just very poorly executed. Aomine carried on anyway. ‘Most females have been neutered before they got here, because they were usually kept together with the males.’

‘Why were they neutered?’ Kagami asked, puzzled.

‘Because not everyone keeps dogs for the sake of keeping dogs, or breeding them.’ Aomine looked at him with a bitter smile that was just bordering on being a sneer. ‘Most of these folks have been used in dog fights.’

‘Dog fights?’ he gasped, fear rising to his throat. Kiyoshi squeezed his hand a little tighter. ‘Shut the fuck up, you didn’t say anything about attack dogs!’

‘Oi, calm your tits there.’ Aomine called out to him, sounding equally stern and reassuring. Kagami’s first thought was that he probably used that voice to soothe and discipline his dogs. ‘The whole point in dog fights is that they’re training them not to harm humans. As long as you don’t force another dog into the household, you should be fine – they’d get aggressive with them, but I doubt that your chicken ass would put up with another animal anyway.’

‘You- listen here, you asshole.’ Kagami yelled, stirring up a set of low barks from the backyard of the house they’ve been nearing. He winced, but it didn’t swerve him from his plan to hand this guy his own ass. ‘I don’t know who you think you are, but you can’t fucking treat people like this, especially those who want to buy shit off of you. I say you get off your high horse and eat some dirt before I fucking feed it to you myself.’

Aomine looked at him calmly, seemingly unfazed by the verbal assault. Then he turned to Kiyoshi. ‘You should’ve just left him in the car.’ he deadpanned. Kiyoshi had to hook his arms under Kagami’s armpits to physically hold him back.

‘You guys can get back to your car, drive back to Tokyo and find some posh goddamn breeder to buy from. I’m not stopping you if you’re fed up with me.’ Aomine explained bluntly. ‘Or you can let me show you the most recent litter I have, so you won’t shit your pants going up to a full-grown pitbull.’

‘Taiga, _please_.’ Kiyoshi pleaded next to his ear. Kagami loudly exhaled the breath he’d been holding, deflating like a hot air balloon.

‘ _Fine_.’ he hissed, wrestling himself out of Kiyoshi’s grasp. He looked right at Aomine’ smug expression. ‘But I can’t promise I won’t punch this guy.’

Aomine laughed, his tone mocking. ‘Bring it on, pretty boy.’

Aomine’s property was an enormous, wide open space with just a small cottage to the side. On the way there, Kagami wondered how nice it must be for dogs to run around freely the whole length of the place with little to no restrictions, as Aomine told them, they usually do when there isn’t anyone visiting them or picking a dog to adopt. There weren’t any cages, just a few square meters behind the house that were fenced off, occasionally rattling with one of the dogs going up and curiously sticking their noses through the holes in between wires.

‘I’m hooked to a few skinners in the area and they alert me about most strays they find.’ Aomine explained as he ushered them inside his house. It smelled faintly of dog food, wool and resin; the interior was kind of messy, surfaces had dog hair on it, and his place was exactly how you’d imagine the living conditions of a young bachelor, but it was inarguably cozy to an extent. ‘But mostly I work with the police departments’ task forces established especially for illegal dog fighting. My contacts reach all the way to Tokyo.’

‘Would you mind if I looked at the dogs in the back first?’ Kiyoshi asked, reacting immediately when Kagami’s eyes flew wide open in fear. ‘Relax, it won’t take long.’

Aomine observed him carefully, and then nodded. ‘Yeah, but don’t get too close. Straight ahead, down the corridor, you can’t miss the door. Just holler if you need something.’

‘You said you wouldn’t leave me alone.’ Kagami glared at him, holding onto his hand with two of his for dear life. He hated how desperate he sounded.

‘I’ll be back in a minute, okay?’ Kiyoshi whispered, tipping his chin up so he could press a kiss to Kagami’s forehead. He slipped his hand from Kagami’s grasp, making him feel momentarily lost.

‘Don’t worry, I won’t bite.’ Aomine smirked. ‘Can’t say that for everyone here, though.’

_I’m going to kill him_ , Kagami thought as he followed him to another door down the corridor.

The room was dimmed, small, and at first glance, looked like kind of a storage room with how packed it was. An eruption of barking from the outside stopped Kagami in his observations, feeling a little paranoid over Kiyoshi being alone with all of those grown, strong, violent dogs, but then his attention was directed back to the other side of the floor, closed off with a screen of rails which looked like they were designed for small children. His ears perked up as he listened to the small whines and rapid, nasal breathing around the bunched-up blankets across the floor behind the railing.

‘Alright, hey.’ Aomine mumbled softly, seating himself carefully by the screen and reaching over it with the gentlest movement Kagami has seen from him so far. His fingers touched one of the stumbling, small animals that wandered way too close in curiosity. ‘It’s alright, I’m here, guys.’

Kagami inched closer just a little bit, taking in the sight. In the corner, probably the furthest place from him, a huge dog laid on its side, seeming weak and just mildly aware of its surroundings. There were seven other dogs in there with it in total, all of them smaller than Kagami’s shoe. All of them had different patterns in their fur, but roughly the same color scheme: beige, grey and white.

‘Oh…’ A small sound escaped Kagami’s mouth, observing the relatively slow, clumsy and dazed movements of the animals. He stepped to Aomine’s side, sitting down on the tiles by him, curiously leaning over the railing to look at the whimpering animals. Aomine shot out to hand to push him back a little, a warning in his eyes.

‘I brought a visitor, Mai-chan.’ Aomine called out to the grown dog in the corner, and Kagami actually saw its ear twitch in response. ‘I hope you don’t mind if he looks at the kids, maybe even touches them? I promise he’s completely harmless.’

‘Why are you talking to it?’ Kagami frowned, to which Aomine grinned.

‘It? Dude, you legally shouldn’t be allowed to have a dog.’ he chuckled, stroking his index finger along the closest puppy’s nose, letting it bite at his knuckle. ‘She has feelings, you know…’ he trailed off, busy with the way the small animal was launching itself at his fingers repeatedly, obviously playing with him. ‘Mai’s the mother of this litter, that’s why she’s in here with them. I just asked her permission to have you here, since she’s not really trusting when it comes to her children. It took me two weeks until she let me come close.’

‘Uh, really?’ Kagami glanced at the dog in the corner, only to find her staring back at him with intent eyes. Have dogs been always this… knowing? soulful?

‘Don’t worry, you should be fine. She’s pretty tired anyway, playing with puppies all day exhausted her.’ Aomine gently grabbed the puppy he’s been teasing by its back, laying it out in his hands and rubbing at its sides. Kagami took a good look at the writhing animal in his hands, gasping and yowling, and he felt just a little bit uneasy. ‘You can touch them, it’s fine.’  
  


‘Ah- um.’ Kagami blushed, reaching out to bring just the tips of his fingers to the top of the puppy’s head. It twisted itself in Aomine’s palms, chasing his touch with his mouth, and Kagami immediately pulled back.

Aomine chuckled softly, wrapping his fingers around the small animal and lifting him over the rails to put him back. ‘So Ryota isn’t a favorite for you, right? I don’t blame you, he’s pretty sassy to be honest.’

‘Are you naming all of them?’ Kagami asked, trying to fight down his nervousness. Aomine’s soft expression was shadowed by a frown.

‘Of course I’m naming them, idiot. How else should I call them, really?’ he rolled his eyes, shuffling closer to Kagami. From this close, Kagami could smell his musk: he smelled like dogs, some kind of deodorant Kagami faintly recognized, and a bit of sweat. ‘I usually look for another name if they don’t listen to it, but so far, that little guy’s Ryota, that girl is Yumi, feeding next to Emi-chan. Hiding in the back is Taro and Takeo and the lost fella over there is Atsushi.’

‘And who are you?’ Kagami asked, eyes widened as a small, completely gray puppy sloshed up to him, swinging his little butt side to side.

Aomine groaned. ‘That’s… Daiki.’ Kagami looked at him in befuddlement, like he was missing out on something. ‘I’m also Daiki. My friend named him that, because she says he looks like me.’

‘You’re not that cute.’ Kagami declared seriously. There was a beat of silence between them, and then, a barking laugh broke out of Aomine as he leaned back, resting his weight on his hands behind him.

‘So now you find them cute, right?’ he teased, bumping his knee into Kagami’s thigh.’ …Taiga, was it?’

‘Kagami.’ he corrected hurriedly. It really did feel weird to be called by his first name by anyone who wasn’t Kiyoshi, his dad, or Himuro. Aomine nodded his acknowledgement, training his eyes on the little puppy wagging his tail at Kagami.

‘He likes you.’ he murmured in disbelief.

‘A-and that’s bad?’

‘Depends. He doesn’t even like Satsuki, and most folks here are crazy about her.’ Aomine hummed, leaning forward and over the railing so he could scoop Daiki up into his hands. ‘You wanna hold him?’

‘I’d rather no-‘ Kagami started to protest, but before he could follow through, Aomine was dropping the puppy straight into his lap. He yelped, fighting down the urge to jump and run, because as much as these creatures freaked him out, he didn’t want to cause them harm, nor inconvenience Aomine by hurting one of his babies.

The small dog called Daiki whined a little to complain about the sudden change, propping himself up on Kagami’s knee with his front paws. He looked around curiously, finally settling to look up at Kagami’s face, the wagging of his tail resuming and hitting against Kagami’s calf with every downwards swing. Kagami reached out to curl his hand around the small back of him, slowly stroking up and down.

‘His fur is soft.’ he blinked in surprise.

‘Yeah. No one believes short-hairs to be so smooth.’ Aomine murmured with an amused smile. ‘But they really are, aren’t they? Especially when they’re this small.’ He poked Daiki in the butt, causing him to wiggle a little in Kagami’s grasp.

‘How old are they?’

‘Over three weeks.’ Aomine slipped his hand up to scratch a blunt nail behind Daiki’s ear, almost bumping it into Kagami’s. ‘I uh. I don’t know what’s your assumption about pits, but most people don’t like them because of their reputation of being extremely violent.’ Kagami could’ve sworn he heard a bit of uncertainty in his voice. ‘But they have the biggest hearts, I’m telling you. Pitbulls love small kids and people in general, and with the right owner, they wouldn’t hurt a fly. I wanted you to know before you’d say no to them on instinct.’

Daiki shifted in his lap, snuggling flush against his thigh. ‘What makes you think I’d say no to them?’

Aomine looked into his eyes, his own widening in surprise, expression open and so tender that it made Kagami want to touch him. Instead, he just laid his palm on the puppy’s back yet again. ‘If it’s up to the owner, I wanna learn how to raise them right first. But I want to- I would, love to be friends with a creature like this.’

‘They’re called dogs, idiot.’ Aomine said, but his voice was soft and smooth, maddeningly so. For a second, they just stared at each other in silence, drinking in the other’s sight in the dimly lit room. Slowly, Aomine flicked his eyes downwards, his dark lashes fluttering and casting long shadows across his cheekbones. ‘Fuck.’

‘What?’ Kagami breathed, the moment feeling way too intimate to raise his voice above a whisper.

‘Daiki peed on you.’


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there's a lot less dog talk and way more relationship problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for being so slow with the updates!! Thank you for sticking around!

According to his phone screen, it was past two in the morning, but Kagami couldn’t bring himself to go back to bed. The night air tingled coolly on his naked skin, not quite cold enough to get sick out here only in his pajama shorts, but cold enough that it cleared his head a little. It smelled faintly of exhaust fumes, the pizza place nearby, and the wet soil from the backyard of the penthouse, complete with a small garden and an automatic sprinkler system.

Kagami liked the buzz of the city. Since he was a little kid, he’s only ever lived in concrete jungles here and in California, moving back out to the nature only when he had people to surf and mess around on the beach with – yet, he caught himself thinking about that property in Nagoya’s countryside, staring up at the night sky and wondering if the stars were any more visible there right now. The time he saw them most clearly was also back in America, at a late night beach party, far away from the city and all its lights, and it was just him, a couple of basketball buddies, some beer and a campfire.

Something told him that the sky was just as clear in Nagoya as it had been back then. And then another voice told him that he’ll never find out, because once the puppies get old enough to be separated from their mother, there will be fairly any reason for him to be around Aomine, let alone ask him stupid questions.

_Ah, damn._ He propped his elbow up on the railing, leaning his head against his palms. He’d hardly even get to know this guy, and yet he can’t seem to stop thinking about him. If there was one thing Kagami genuinely admired, it was passion, and there was no denying that Aomine had that with how fiercely he loved his animals. He handled them with the most gentle care and protected them with the utmost fierceness, with his stormy eyes glinting and his jaw clenching at the first sight of trouble and his hand just barely grazing Kagami’s as he reached over to take a puppy away from him, grinning at him cheerfully and a little apologetically while Kagami was still stuck on the way the small contact burned on his skin.

He jumped when a light blanket fell on his shoulders, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked up like he expected someone else to be in his apartment at this ungodly hour.

‘Hi.’ he mumbled shyly, bumping his head against his boyfriend’s as Kiyoshi bent down to kiss his shoulder through the blanket.

‘Hey.’ Kiyoshi smiled, wrapping his arms around him and nuzzling his neck. ‘Can’t sleep?’

‘Can’t say that I can.’ Kagami sighed. He stood up and leaned back against Kiyoshi’s broad chest, the heat rolling off his body warming him up faster than any blanket ever could, especially with the way Kiyoshi was rubbing at his arm.

‘Would you like to come back to bed and try again?’

‘Eventually.’ he murmured, letting his head drop back against Kiyoshi’s shoulder. He softly groaned when Kiyoshi’s mouth found his outstretched neck, peppering it with slow, sweet kisses.

‘You don’t have to do it, you know…’ Kiyoshi whispered into the sensitive skin under his jaw, for at least the thirteenth time since Kagami agreed to adopt Daiki. And for the thirteenth time in a row, Kagami rolled his eyes at him and pulled away.

‘I’m capable of making decisions for myself, you know.’ he huffed, annoyance creeping back into his voice. Maybe it was that Kiyoshi was his senior, or maybe it was because they jumped into a relationship far too quickly without even getting to know each other beforehand, but it took Kagami a while since he could get a proper read on Kiyoshi. And now that he did, he didn’t often like what he saw.

Kiyoshi was more insecure than he let on. He needed love, reassurance and comfort more than he dared to ask for, because he always put others first and would never want to inconvenience them with his needs.

Consequentially, Kiyoshi was always stupidly attentive. Not the kind of attentive that people felt understood by, but the kind of attentive that believed they knew better what the other needed. There’s been quite some nagging, and assuming of Kagami’s feelings that sometimes ended in huge fights because often times the last thing Kagami needed was someone to breathe down his neck and look after him when he’s very much valued his own space and capability to take care of himself, thank you very much.

He hated that sometimes he had to remind Kiyoshi that he was his own person. It seemed to mean that he was shutting him out, and Kiyoshi usually seemed to take it that way, too.

So it came as a relief that Kiyoshi responded to it with a smile and a hand on Kagami’s cheek this time.

‘Understood.’ he breathed warmly, leaning onto his mouth and claiming it in a deep kiss. That was another thing Kagami’s learned about Kiyoshi – whenever he kissed him like that, with his huge hand holding him in place with a steady grip on his face, and his tongue immediately delving into his mouth, he wanted to turn things hot and heavy.

Kagami sighed softly, momentarily losing himself in the way Kiyoshi pulled him in by his waist, a hand plastered securely on the small of his back, the way he flicked his tongue against his, how his lips stroked across his own. He closed his eyes, thinking about the lectures he had to attend the next morning, and then thinking about Nagoya, and how easily he could peek into the cleavage of Aomine’s shirt when he leaned down to grab a puppy…

‘Fuck it.’ he groaned, grabbing into Kiyoshi’s pajama shirt and pulling him close, biting and sucking at his mouth filthily as he backed them through the door and into the living room. Kagami stopped to pull the door shut behind them, gasping when Kiyoshi’s hand found its way into his shorts, groping and kneading his ass like it was the only thing he was blessed with such big hands for.

Kagami pushed his fingers into his hair, yanking him down into a bruising kiss reserved just for his mouth, just for these occasions, just for him.

'Good morning.' Kagami called out over the faint ringing of the bell.

'Good morning, Kagami-kun.' A tired voice replied from the register, and soon enough, Kiyoshi's head also popped out from under the counter, where he was - presumably - arranging cartons of milk in the small fridge.

'Taiga, hey!' he chirped, a huge grin taking up most of his face. He stepped to the register, signaling to Takao to take his place at the bar while he served Kagami. Also, it was easier to lean over the counter and swap a quick kiss there, than they could fit in between the sizeable coffee machines. 'How's your day going?'

'It's fine.' Kagami said, his lips curving into a smile. 'Algebra sucked ass, but my economics professor is out with a summer cold, so I came by to say hello. You guys busy?'

'As ever.' Takao joined in, taking the cue for the plural. 'I can't stand the morning shift. We're a bunch of twenty-something year olds for Christ's sake, who expects us to be up and running at six? Some people our age go to sleep that time, geez.'

'It's not too bad, Takao-kun.' Kiyoshi tried. 'Besides, your experiences aren't universal. I've always been an early bird.'

'That's because you've been raised by old people, and so you became a grandpa yourself.'

'I second that.' Kagami grinned, laughing when Kiyoshi threw his arms up in defeat.

'Can I bribe you with some coffee so you'll finally take my side?' Kiyoshi asked instead, back to business.

'You're asking a tired college student who you've been - cover your ears, Takao - _banging_ all night if he wants coffee?' Kagami didn't miss the way Kiyoshi blushed up to his forehead. He was so adorable. 'Hell yeah I want coffee. I can't promise I'll take your side, though.'

'Warn me a little earlier, will you?!' Takao whined, still holding onto his ears, but obviously reaching for them way too late.

'Th- the regular?' Kiyoshi had to swallow to get the words out. Oh man, did Kagami love teasing him.

'You know it.' he smirked, watching as Kiyoshi took a paper cup and started scribbling away. 'Actually, if you don't mind, I'd drink it here. I was hoping you could spend your break with me, since I got an hour until my next class.'

'Oh...' Kiyoshi lowered the cup in his hand and bit his lip. 'I'm sorry, no can do. I actually took my break already.'

Kagami narrowed his eyes, flashing a quick glance at Takao, who was staring at Kiyoshi with a pitying look on his face. 'But it's only eight? Your shift started two hours ago.'

'Yes, but Riko-chan came to visit me, and she wanted to talk.' Kiyoshi seemed to busy himself with writing on the paper cup, but finally he needed to finish and give it to Takao. Which meant that he had to look straight into Kagami's intense eyes. Kiyoshi sighed. 'Look, I know what you think-'

'Enlighten me.' Kagami growled. _Again with the fucking assumptions._

'-But Riko-chan and I are still friends and we will be probably forever. I get that you think she's not good for me, and you're probably also a little bit jealous but could we not have this conversation right now?'

'It's never a right time, or a right place, or a right mood for you when it comes to this particular conversation.' he hissed, searching for his wallet and pulling out some money. 'I'm paying for it this time. I don’t need your stupid peace offering.'

'Wha- wait, Taiga!' Kiyoshi yelled after him, but he was already storming off to the other end of the counter, where Takao was putting the lid on his coffee.

‘Cheers, I hope you’ll visit again soon.’ Takao called out to him with a grin, Kagami raised his cup to him in an unimpressed gesture as he walked out the door, boyfriend and his coworker and his stupid prick of an ex be damned.

It wasn’t like he didn’t like Riko too. She’s coached him through first and second year, with his dad taking over the third when she went off to college, and she’s always lead them to victory. She was a kind-hearted girl with a determined mind and enough willpower to reign over a dozen sweaty, testosterone-crazed boys and for that Kagami reserved great respect for her.

Of course, that was all before he started dating with Kiyoshi and Kagami learned about what really happened between them. There’s always been some kind of unspoken tension between the two, something Kuroko had repeatedly pointed out to him either by a knowing glance or hushed words, but not even Kagami would have guessed that they were actually going out at a time. Kiyoshi told him once when he walked him home after practice, his eyes fixed on the sidewalk and a small smile stretching his lips, looking more like he was in pain. Riko broke up with him after his injury, right when Kiyoshi would’ve needed her love and support the most, saying that she couldn’t bear to see the one she loved hurting so badly.

And Kiyoshi, dear, naïve, idiotic Kiyoshi had consoled her, held her as she cried, and three years later, he’s still there for her like some kind of emotional doormat even though Riko had gone off and got engaged to his best friend and their former Captain.

Kagami didn’t put the blame on her. No one can control how they feel, and as mature as Riko was, she was no exception. He just hated how Kiyoshi was still suffering with a broken heart because of her, and how he was so supportive and protective of her even if it hurt him. Kagami wished he would stop, wished that Kiyoshi just respected himself and his feelings that much, he wished he could lift him up like that, to keep him safe and happy and confident, and part of this anger, this frustration wasn’t even directed at Riko or even Kiyoshi – Kagami found out, over and over again that it was directed at himself, for not being able to do more in this situation. He was someone who could solve basically everything, he lived on his own for the majority of his life, he lead Seirin to victory in countless championships, so why was he so useless now, when it came to the man he loved?

‘Damn, you look like you could kill someone.’ A familiar voice mumbled above him, and Kagami snapped his head up to meet Aomine’s concerned frown. ‘You alright?’

‘Wha- WHAT are YOU doing here?!’ Kagami shouted, spilling his coffee just a little bit as his body considered jumping, but settled for a great big twitch and a quite-not full body blush that he was adamant on denying. ‘Fuck, it burns!’

Aomine snickered, pulling his pinky out of his ear where he tucked it to prevent any damage to his hearing. ‘What’s that? Do you always wet your pants when you see me?’

‘Shut up, that was your dog!’

‘It’s _your_ dog now. I’m bringing him over when he’s ready.’ Aomine reminded him, taking the empty seat next to Kagami without even asking. He was wearing baggy shorts that reached down to his knees, a loose V-neck and his signature leather jacket. Kagami hated to admit it, but he looked good without putting any effort in doing so – he instinctively shuffled a little further away from him when he settled beside him, fishing out a pack of tissues to try and dry himself and the side of his coffee cup. ‘Need any help with that?’

‘I need you to shut up and go die.’ Kagami grunted at him. ‘Why are you here?’

‘I’m visiting. Tokyo police has more luck with illegal dog fights.’ Aomine shrugged, his amusement turning into resignation at Kagami’s empty threats. ‘What are you so upset about? Is it your boyfriend?’

Kagami pressed his lips together into a thin line, anger buzzing up in him at the mention of Kiyoshi. He wiped at his thigh aggressively, the wetted tissue leaving pieces of frayed paper across his jeans. ‘That has nothing to do with you.’

‘I take it as a yes.’ Aomine hummed, to which Kagami gritted his teeth. ‘You’re just making it worse.’ he lifted his eyebrow, snatching the tissues from Kagami’s hand and pulling one out, pressing it against his thigh. Kagami leaned back, glaring daggers at him as he let him carefully mop up hot coffee from his leg.

‘…sorry.’ he mumbled then, bunching up the wet tissue and shoving it in his pocket. Aomine averted his gaze, looking genuinely apologetic, maybe even shameful. ‘It’s not my place to bother with your relationship issues, nor do I really care. I just saw you with a long face and I thought I’d ask. You wanna talk about it?’

‘I’m not someone who talks about their private stuff just so as to avoid conflict with the person in question.’ Kagami frowned, and he swore he didn’t have anyone in mind. He didn’t think about Kiyoshi, and Riko, and how they seemed to always know what’s up in the other’s relationship. Riko had looked at him knowingly and even with a little bit of disdain too much for Kagami’s liking. Aomine nodded.

‘Gotcha. How about coffee, then?’ he offered lightheartedly. ‘I want to make it up to you, since I scared the shit outta you and made you spill yours.’

‘I wasn’t scared.’ Kagami defended himself, mostly out of pride. He looked down at the cup in his hand, the white paper stained with droplets of black coffee. There was still a significant amount of the beverage sloshing inside, but then his gaze dropped lower on the side, reading his first name with the kanji of ‘love’ squeezed between the katakana, reading as ‘Ta- _ai_ -ga’, he winced and disgust churned his stomach. He usually appreciated cheesy from Kiyoshi, but given that he knew well how it was just him trying to make up for the Riko thing, it felt rather belittling today.

‘Cute.’ Aomine remarked bluntly.

‘Nosy.’ Kagami retorted, unable to stop himself from breaking out in a small smile when Aomine grinned at him. ‘Get up from your ass, we’re getting coffee.’

‘Shouldn’t you have come by car if there was a dog to be picked up?’ Kagami asked, wrapping his hand around the small mug in front of him. They spent a couple of minutes walking until they found a coffee shop that was stranger to the both of them; after all, they got off at a completely random stop on a whim.

Aomine whirled the straw around in his own glass of iced coffee, the cubes clanking pleasantly against the cup.

‘Nah. I don’t drive.’ he shrugged. ‘I can, but I don’t have my license yet.’

‘Wait, how do you get dogs from Tokyo, then? You play shepherd with them or something?’

‘Idiot, dogs are easily portable.’ Aomine shook his head with a disbelieving smirk. ‘I either put them on a leash and give them a muzzle and subtly wrestle them through a two-hour long train ride, or get them sent down by a skinner if I’m lucky. Sometimes, when it’s from Tokyo, my dad helps.’

That picked Kagami’s interest. ‘Is he working with dogs, too?’

‘You could say that.’ Aomine said. ‘He’s a cop.’

‘That’s where your contacts are from.’ Kagami nodded, watching as the amusement from Aomine’s face drained a little, offering him a brow quirked in agreement before he raised his glass to chase the straw with his mouth.

‘He wanted me to be on the force, too.’ he mumbled around his straw, chewing it lightly. Kagami found himself looking at the way his lips strained around it. ‘Had a job at the K-9 unit ready and lined up for me.

‘What made you change your mind?’

Aomine looked at him intently, finally setting his glass back down. From this close, with proper lighting, Kagami could see how young he was, his cheeks still faintly reminding him of past childish roundness, the faint stubble on his chin gappy and uneven. There were a few shadows under his eyes and on his forehead, but aside from that, he didn’t look older than any student of Kagami’s age at college.

‘I didn’t really have a mind to change.’ he smiled, even though the quirk of his lips most resembled a grimace instead. ‘I wasn’t sure what to do with my life. I was dumb for college and untalented in most things, so it was obvious to take over the dog place when I inherited it.’

Kagami was quiet for a moment, tapping the pad of his finger against his mug. ‘How old are you?’

’21 in August.’

Kagami beamed. 'Hey, I'm also turning 21 in August!'

'Huh. Thought you were older.' Aomine narrowed his eyes in interest. 'Your boyfriend definitely seemed old.'

All childish joy disappeared from his expression at the mention of Kiyoshi. Oh, yeah. They were angry with each other now. 'He's only a year older. He was my senior in high school.'

Aomine was quiet for a moment, rhythmically swirling his iced coffee with the straw. 'That where you met?'

Kagami nodded, and noticed how Aomine averted his gaze when he asked that question. Probably out of guilt that he seemed to have brought up a sensitive topic yet again. Kagami decided not to let his partner's bad choices ruin their fun.

'Yeah. Basketball club, actually.'

'Oh.' Aomine looked genuinely surprised. 'You play?'

'I did all the way through middle school and high school.' he said, reminiscing with a small smile. 'How about you?'

'Pretty much the same.' Aomine grinned at him. He was smiling wide, bright and genuine, all teeth and good nature. Kagami thought that he liked it - his face, stretching with a grin opposite him, in that small indie coffee shop with the fairy lights behind him. He had the sudden urge to take a picture of him like that. 'My friend Satsuki always jokes that I was born with a basketball in my hand.'

'Well, were you?' Kagami asked, his humor mindless and effortless. He thought it sucked, but Aomine laughed anyway, his voice bubbling up deep and raspy from his throat, his eyes glinting in his cocky way of his.

'Donno about that.' he chuckled, leaning back in his seat to take in Kagami fully, all loose now and his nerves gone with the wind. 'I guess that would've been hard on my mom.'

Ten o'clock rolled around and passed quickly, marking the start of Kagami's next lecture - time flew when he was with Aomine and listened to his easy answers, the way he somehow always directed the conversation to Kagami and his life, looking like he was really interested in every aspect of it. The small gesture made Kagami less embarrassed and more flattered in its simplicity than he thought it would, and when he walked him back to the station and bid his goodbye, he found that he felt way lighter than he did before they met.

For the time being, he forgot about Kiyoshi and Riko's unwelcome visit to him that he welcomed anyway without hesitation.

That was, until he got home earlier than he usually would after his classes, and found both of them in his apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little more dog talk; relationship problems escalate and Kagami goes to couple therapy alone. Two more characters surface that I've been meaning to put here, only to support our resident bball idiots.

Kiyoshi was anxiously clutching a stuffed bear in his huge hands, and Kagami couldn’t fucking believe it.

'Hi, Kagami-kun!' Riko called out with a fake smile, her lips tight and her expression forced. Kagami leaned down to her on the couch to vaguely put his arms around her as a greeting.

'Hey Coach.' he attempted a smile, but all he could muster was a small twitch of his mouth. The look Kiyoshi gave him from the side indicated that he looked more like he was grimacing. Good, he thought, glaring daggers at him and his sad excuse of a peace treaty. 'Everything good?'

'Oh... Yeah.' Riko said, lying through her teeth. Even a moron could see from her red, puffy eyes that she's been crying, and Kagami was far from a moron. He was also far from heartless, he found when he felt a pang of guilt twist in his chest at the sight, but the desire to protect what was his somewhat overrode his feelings of empathy.

'You're back early.' Kiyoshi interrupted, his thumbs fiddling with the arms of the teddy bear. He clearly didn't miss the way Kagami pointedly avoided giving him a greeting kiss. 'Another sick teacher?'

‘No, I ran into Aomine and went out to get coffee.’ he said, slipping the strap of his bag off his shoulder and dropping it by the foot of the kitchen counter. When he looked back at his boyfriend, Kiyoshi was frowning. He only ever made faces when he was honestly annoyed with someone.

‘Oh? I didn’t know Aomine-kun was in town.’

Riko seemed to be finally catching on with the program.

‘I should go.’

‘No, there’s no need-‘

‘That’s probably for the best.’

Riko’s tense, drawn-up shoulders finally lowered, but her expression was one of hurt and legitimate heartbreak. Kagami felt overwhelmingly guilty seeing her like that, anger coiling low in his gut that Kiyoshi had ever put him in a position where he couldn’t help being unkind to a girl he liked so much.

Riko wasn't the enemy, he reminded himself as she stood to get going. Kagami lowered his gaze on the floor, unable to look at her even a second longer. He wondered who was, then.

He was startled when Riko's fingers gently squeezed his forearm, not even noticing when she stepped to him. He didn't bother to lift his eyes, but he did take notice of the sad smile tugging on her lips.

'Let's talk someday, Kagami-kun.' she said, pleading.

Kagami hummed in acknowledgement. He watched as Riko’s hand slipped and fell from his arm in defeat, and waited until the door opened and closed behind her to glance over to Kiyoshi standing in the other side of the room.

He was furious, if his clenched jaw and intense glare was any indication. Good. So was Kagami.

‘Is this what it’s come to?’ Kiyoshi’s voice was trembling when he finally spoke up, breaking the silence. ‘You’ll go out to make me jealous whenever I meet my friends?’

Kagami snorted. The ideas Kiyoshi was getting were becoming exponentially more ridiculous each time. ‘If you think Riko is just a friend to you, you’re even more stupid than you look.’

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘Look, I don’t even give a fuck if you’re head over heels for her or something.’ Kagami said, even though his heart was hurting just thinking about it. ‘I just wish you’d stop being around her and helping her when it’s painful for you.’

‘How do you know what’s “painful” for me?’ Kiyoshi gave him an incredulous look, and Kagami swore he could’ve punched him. Really? He was judging him for making assumptions?

‘Because unlike you, I actually pay attention.’ he growled, taking a few steps forward. ‘I see how you get all quiet after talking to her, how you stay up all night pretending to be asleep whenever she comes to you complaining about Hyuuga-san, thinking about how you’d treat her better. I know all this, because I know _you_ , but sometimes I do wish I didn’t.’

Kiyoshi looked at him with his brows drawn together and his eyes searching. ‘So you want to break up?’

‘Like that would solve anything.’ Kagami rolled his eyes. ‘Do you even listen to what I’m saying?’

‘I can’t let her go, Taiga.’ Kiyoshi whispered, his shoulders trembling under the weight of the world he so easily burdened himself with. Kagami gave him a pitying look.

‘You’d rather choose her over me because I don’t hurt you or take you for granted.’ he continued, the answering sob from Kiyoshi piercing right through his heart. But he couldn’t stop now. ‘It’s like you want to feel worthless and unloved, because that’s easier than believing you’re good enough for something real.’

‘I love you…’ Kiyoshi hiccupped.

‘I love you too.’ Kagami said, feeling numb and tired to the bone. ‘But you’re not making it easy.’

He’s gotten past the point of consoling Kiyoshi. He wasn’t even able to try with how sick he felt looking at his face, seeing him break down and cry over someone who didn’t matter anymore, who shouldn’t matter to him, because he had Kagami, and Kagami wanted to treat him better, better than he thought he deserved.

And yet he couldn’t, because Kiyoshi wouldn’t let him. It broke his heart. Whenever he extended a helping hand, Kiyoshi had seemed to push it away with an insistence so uncharacteristic of someone so kind and warm. Kiyoshi was always, _always_ so eager to give his all for people, and Kagami hated this part of him the most, because he could never accept reciprocation. It made him a hypocrite, and everyone he ever helped feel like pure shit.

He was ready to let Kagami witness his downfall, and Kagami wasn’t sure he wanted to stick around for it.

So he did the only thing he still knew: he played basketball. He pulled on his basketball shoes, not even bothering to change out of his casual clothes, grabbing his keys and a spare ball and nothing else, while Kiyoshi hogged the bathroom for a long, clearing-his-head kind of shower.

The ten-minute walk to the nearest court had his thoughts racing too quickly for his brain to catch on, eventually turning into a white noise of “my fault, his fault, her fault”; his fingers were twitching under the ball so hard that he felt like he was either going to throw it, drop it, or start dribbling in the middle of the street. He knew he made the right choice by coming down here, because there was nothing else he could’ve channeled all this nervous energy into, or at least nothing he wouldn’t regret.

Without even wasting a second to look around, he pulled the gate open, turning the basketball down and snapping it against the concrete with a punishing velocity. Letting it hit the tips of his fingers full force made him feel like he could breathe again, and he ran up to the backboard closest to him. He jumped, and it felt like he was flying once again, and despite being out of practice, despite his clothes, despite the basic laws of physics, he forced the ball right through the hoop.

Grabbing into it put more strain on his arm than he was used to, hissing when his entire weight dropped and his hand almost slipped on the ring of iron with the force of it. He let himself fall back down on his feet, rubbing at his shoulder when he regained his balance.

‘You shouldn’t do this kind of thing without warming up properly, Kagami-kun.’ Kagami jumped, finally directing his attention to the ball that bounced away, and the familiar person whose hands it ended up in. Kuroko offered him one of his barely-there half smiles. ‘Your purpose for coming down here probably isn’t to give yourself an injury.’

‘Well I haven’t seen you in a while.’ Kagami grinned at him, seeming genuinely happy to meet him after god knows how long. He walked up to Kuroko, pulling him under one of his arms for a quick squeeze, and taking the ball away from his hands with the other. Kuroko just blinked at him, his expression blank once again. ‘How about we play, for old time’s sake?’

When they finished, even though Kuroko was mostly just standing around and passing him the ball for most of the time, he was just as out of breath as Kagami who spent at least an hour without any breaks chasing rebounds and jumping for dunks. Kagami was sprawled out on one of the benches, not quite lying down but still on his back, breathing hard – Kuroko took up less space beside him, leaning on his trembling knees.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, all low and breathless from panting himself. Kagami glanced at him sideways, his eyes clashing with Kuroko’s perfectly clear and intent ones. He huffed, pushing himself up on his elbows.

‘Why do you think something’s wrong?’

‘You usually had the same reckless verve to you when something’s been bothering you.’ Kuroko said, simple yet careful. Kagami wondered what kind of kid their age would use words like ‘verve’.

He leaned his head to the side, not quite ready to give Kuroko the same “My private life is my own damn problem” speech that he presented Aomine with just that same morning. ‘How long are you going to be back?’

‘I’m taking off next Tuesday.’ Kuroko said. After they graduated, the whole bunch had been kind of scattered all over the place. It was only four of them that stayed in Tokyo, actually: Kiyoshi because of his grandparents, Kagami because of Kiyoshi, and Riko and Hyuuga because they were also already pretty much settled here. Izuki had applied for a scholarship overseas, something Kagami had pulled some strings with his dad to make it happen, and for that his senpai regularly sends him gift packs. Last he heard, Mitobe and Furihata were both enrolled in a Kyoto college, and Kuroko was attending a program in Osaka. He was going to be a kindergarten teacher, something that no one on the team really expected, even as it made perfect sense.

‘Do you like school?’ Kagami asked, feeling incredibly stupid about making small talk with someone he knew so well. In the two years Kuroko had been on this program he hadn’t even thought to pose that question. _Better late than never, right?_

Kuroko let out a small sound that might’ve been mistaken for a chuckle. ‘Yes, I do. If I may say though, a closed-ended question is hardly a good diversion of the topic.’

‘You know all about diversions, right?’ Kagami reached up to him, ruffling his hair awkwardly. Kuroko looked back at him with a slight, but unmistakably cheerful glint to his eyes. Kagami sighed and dropped his hand on the bench between them. ‘You know how I’m dating Kiyoshi, right?’

‘It would be unfortunate if I wasn’t aware of that.’ Kuroko said. ‘I heard you are now living together. Congratulations.’

‘Thanks, I guess.’ Kagami mumbled under his breath. ‘It’s not always a walk in the park.’

‘I think I would be surprised if it was.’ Kuroko hummed, and Kagami gave him a look. He didn’t expect him to react so lightly. It’s not even that he expected him to react one particular way, hell, he didn’t even expect to blurt out that something’s been wrong with them – but there was something about the way Kuroko sounded so natural about it that made it easier to talk about.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I hope you won’t take this the wrong way,’ he said carefully. ‘but I was surprised to find out you were going out with Kiyoshi-senpai. I believe you’re both remarkable persons, that is to say, but you two share some fundamentally different core values.’

Kuroko glanced at him, relieved to find Kagami listening intently instead of trying to counter him. ‘Kagami-kun, do you remember when Hyuuga-senpai once called Kiyoshi-senpai the most honest basketball player he ever knew?’

‘That rings a bell, yeah.’

‘I had a hard time believing that to be true.’ Kuroko reached for the ball, pulling it into his lap with both of his hands. It seemed too big for his relatively small palms, but Kagami knew better than to judge on looks alone when it came to Kuroko.

‘To me, Kiyoshi-senpai always seemed like he had something to hide. He was either keeping secrets from the team, plotting something to boost morale or lying to us about something important. Most of these were usually about his own wellbeing, which he thought was standing in the way of protecting the people he loved.’

‘I believe that he’s quite a dishonest individual.’ he concluded. ‘He doesn’t mean any harm by it; in fact, he’s dishonest because that’s his way of caring about people.’

‘You, on the other hand, prefer to be bluntly outspoken, even if it causes hurt to someone.’

‘Hey.’ Kagami growled, but he didn’t really mean it. He knew Kuroko was right.

‘Don’t get me wrong, I think your honesty is a commendable trait. The problem, I imagine would be that it often conflicts with Kiyoshi-senpai’s more conformable nature. You have the same intentions with quite the opposing means to execute them, and this, combined with your fierceness when it comes to expressing your feelings must’ve lead to a few difficult situations.’

‘But I might be wrong.’ Kuroko said, studying Kagami’s face with his eyes unreadable. Kagami had to remind himself to breathe properly with all that weight Kuroko just dropped on his chest.

‘You think we’re just not for each other?’ he asked and his voice wavered. Admittedly, it was becoming harder to talk around that lump in his throat.

‘I don’t think there are two people on this world who would be perfectly compatible.’ he answered thoughtfully. ‘All we can do is try for each other if we think what we have is worth it. Do you think Kiyoshi-senpai is worth it?’

‘I do.’ Kagami declared, scrambling to stand on his still-wobbly legs. ‘I very much do.’

‘You really love him, don’t you?’ Kuroko smiled, holding out his ball.

‘I love him.’ he breathed, taking it and squeezing it tight. His heart was beating out of his chest. ‘I have to- _shit_. I’ll give you a call, alright? Let’s meet before you’re headed back!’

‘Good luck, Kagami-kun.’

Kagami ran all the way home.

He wanted to fix things. He wanted to apologize for being too harsh, for not respecting Kiyoshi’s feelings and for discrediting everything he’s been doing for him. He wanted to hold him and tell him that it’s okay, he wanted to make his pain go away, or at least somewhat undo the part of it that was his fault.

His hands trembled so bad when he punched in the code for his apartment that he got it wrong twice. He cursed out the terminal, finally pushing the gate open with his shoulder, rushing up the stairs and taking two at the time – fumbling with the keys, turning the knob, and stopping dead in his tracks when the apartment welcomed him dark, quiet and empty.

He let the ball slip out of his grasp and bounce away and back from the wall, coming to a sad halt beside the shoes lined up on the carpet that were now only his own. Kagami reached for the light switch, and when he managed to turn them on, his eyes immediately fell on the neatly folded piece of paper on the kitchen counter.

He swore he’d already taken the breath for an apology.

The sun had already started to set as Aomine hiked up to the site from the train station. He squinted around when he reached the parking spaces, trying to see if there’s any more dogs still out on the field before he would open the main gate and let them all out.

He locked up behind himself, huffing out an exhausted breath as he braced himself for walking uphill again, even though the distance to the cabin was nothing like the one he’s already had behind him. Damn it, he should’ve taken his bike.

‘Honey, I’m home’ he called out flatly from the doorway, shrugging out of his leather jacket and folding it over the back of the couch, toeing his shoes off as he went. It was something he used to do when his mom was still around, announcing his arrival like this to make her laugh, but it kind of just stuck long after she was gone, too. Though Aomine couldn’t say there wasn’t a teasing edge to his voice now that he knew Satsuki was over.

‘Back here.’ Satsuki chirped from down the corridor. Aomine hummed, in the middle of grabbing two beers from the fridge and twisting a magnet off with a can opener. It was an old piece with a dull football sticker, something he believed his dad bought in his college days.

Aomine made his way to Mai’s room, unsurprised to find his best friend kneeling on one of the blankets scattered around the floor, cradling a small puppy in her hands and feeding them from a bottle of formula. A small smile tugged at his lips at the sight; the way Satsuki was too focused on feeding to acknowledge his arrival, her signature messy bun on the nape of her neck, the wriggling creature in her lap. He opened both bottles, taking a seat beside her and shoving the caps in his pocket.

‘He’s a little glutton,’ Satsuki said, glancing at Aomine out of the corner of her eyes, amusement clear on her face. ‘Just like his namesake.’

‘Will you shut up?’ Aomine laughed, setting down one beer for Satsuki and chugging some of his own. ‘I didn’t see your car out front.’

‘I was expecting to be paid in alcohol for the favor.’

‘Aren’t you the prophet.’ he mumbled, sneaking a hand to her lap to scratch a finger against Daiki’s side. Daiki jerked away from the touch, still chasing the formula in Satsuki’s hand. ‘You can sleep here if you want. I’ll take the couch and take you home first thing tomorrow.’

‘Alright.’ Satsuki nodded, half a response and half reacting to Daiki finally slowing his movements, growing more relaxed in her hold every second. She slowly pulled the bottle away, carefully grabbing him by his back and lifting him over the railing that separated him from the rest of his siblings. ‘Let me call my dad first.’

Aomine snorted. ‘Didn’t you tell him where you were going?’

‘I did, but he likes to know if I spend the night.’ she grabbed the neck of her beer, standing to step out to the corridor. ‘He gets anxious when I stay over.’

‘Anxious why?’ he asked, frowning.

‘He’s just overprotective.’ Satsuki smiled, just this side of condescending. Aomine wasn’t sure if it was directed at his dad’s antics or his own oblivion. ‘He still things you want more from me.’

‘Ew, that’s jarring.’ Aomine grimaced, but it quickly turned into a grin as Satsuki threw the bottle of formula at him. He caught it before it could hit his chest, rolling it carelessly towards one corner of the room.

He moved to turn to the closed-off space reserved for Mai and her litter. Leaning his forearm on the delicate railing, he trained his eyes on a lazily stumbling Daiki, slowed down and sleepy from being fed so much. The puppy’s deep blue eyes were unfocused and drowsy, and Aomine smiled as he smoothed a hand down his small back. Daiki yawned, his mouth opened way too big for his small body and Aomine chuckled to himself, chest overfilling with fondness for the tiny creature.

‘Did you have any luck with your dad?’ Satsuki asked from the doorway, cradling her beer with both of her hands. Aomine shrugged his shoulders, his fingers still hovering over Daiki’s unstable form.

‘I’d be surprised if you called a screaming match in the interrogation room “luck”.’ he mumbled and lowered his chin onto the metal bars separating him from the dogs. He heard the small thuds of Satsuki’s steps, and not so much as _felt_ her lowering herself onto the floor behind him. One small, gentle hand came up to his hair to stroke it back, long nails catching on his scalps, and Aomine shuddered. It was a good kind of shudder. ‘You fed everyone, right?’

‘Almost.’ Satsuki murmured, sliding her palm behind his ear and smoothing a hand through the side of his head. ‘You hungry?’

‘You’re not allowed in my kitchen.’ Aomine said, earning himself a flick of his ear. He grinned and reached for his beer at his side. ‘C’mon, my treat.’

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, kudos and puppies are all appreciated!!!


End file.
